Dei-Dei Land Owners Seek Injunction Against Encroachers

Landowners at Zaudan Pazeri and Filindabo Layouts under the auspices of Zaudan Pazeri Property Owners Association in Dei-Dei District of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have filed for an injunction at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court 42 sitting at Kubwa District, restraining any activities on their plots pending the determination of the matter.

The chairman of the association, Elder Friday Ugoala, who made this known on behalf of other affected landowners while speaking with journalists after filing for the injunction, lamented the trauma the allottees have been going through since the land issue started in 2013.

He said despite the complexity of the court case, the affected allottees still have faith that the FCT minister, Mallam Muhammad Bello will not spend scarce resources to defend illegality meted out to over 3,000 landowners if the minister was duly informed of the circumstances surrounding the case.

“We have been reluctant to file the injunction all this while, but three different activities are at present going on in the land when the case is still in court. The land swap activities which the FCT minister commissioned have commenced on the land, second, the natives are selling our plots, and also the mass housing developers are selling their plots to other buyers.

“We can no longer fold our hands, but file an injunction restraining every activity in the land until the determination of the matter in court. The motion would be ruled on November 9. We are still appealing to the minister to come to our rescue because we believe in him.  We know that once he is rightly informed, this matter will not go further,” he said.

According to Ugoala, the layouts passed due process, it was the minister’s office that contracted surveyors and town planners to map out the plots for them, and when they were offered the plots, considerations were given to them, which they paid and were given receipts.